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SOME THINGS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN '^^r-r 

7 ^ f 



History of Northfield, 



New Hampshire. 



READ BEFORE THE 

NORTHFIELD AND TILTON WOMAN'S CLUB. 



LUCY R. H. CROSS. 



CONCORD, N. H. 
NOV. 17, igoo. 



T^^ 



H^7 6 '/s' 



BYGONKS— SOME THINGS NOT GENERAI^LY KNOWN IN THE 
HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.' 

/)')' Lucy R. H. Cross. 




HE story of border and 
(->U;i! pioneer life is always an 



interesting, but not al- 
ways a pleasant, one. 
Variety it may have, 
and every day adventure, comedy, and 
tragedy, perhaps, though it might 

Give 5»ou no pleasure 
Or add to your treasure 
Could I weave it into a song. 

Will Carlton says : 

" It isn't the funniest thing a man can do, 
Existing in a country when 'tis new. 
Nature, who moved in first a good long while 
Has things already somewhat her own style. 
She don't want things exposed from porch to 

closet 
And so she kindo-nags the one who does it. 
She loves her ague muscle to display 
.\nd shake him up most every other day. 
She finds time 'mong her other family cares 
To keep in stock good wildcats, wolves, and 

bears. 
And those who 've wrestled with his bloody 

art 
Say, ' Nature always takes the Indian's 

part.' " 

Canterbury, which means North- 
field as well, was for a long time the 
extreme border town. It was granted 
to Richard Waldron and others in 
1727, ami was incorporated in 1741. 
The Scotch Irish from Londonderry 
took possession of the Merrimack 
River Intervale in 1721. An old 
house near the site of the " Muchido " 
was used as a fort, and must have 
seen many sieges, for when it was 
torn down, l)ullets were found em- 
bedded in the oaken walls, and others 

' Read before the Nortlilicld and 'r 



between the walls and wainscot. 
There was also a fort farther back on 
the hill, commanded by Capt. Jere- 
miah Clough, which was also a depot 
for provisions and a rendezvous for 
provincial troops during Lovewell's 
and the French and Indian wars, and 
a strong guard was always kept there. 
Not only did the garrison have to 
contend with wild beasts, and the 
more cruel Indian, but there was a 
bitter jealousy between them and the 
Ruraford colony just below them. 

Canterbury was a New Hampshire 
settlement, incorporated by the New 
Hampshire government, and settled by 
New Hampshire people, while Rum- 
ford was settled by Massachusetts peo- 
ple,and incorporated by the "Great and 
General Court, ' ' and the people looked 
to it for help and protection. They 
were angry that Canterbury was sup- 
plied with provisions and a competent 
force of troops, and this feeling did 
not entirely die out, until the brave 
soldiers of the two settlements had 
fought side by side in the many fast- 
following wars. 

Capt. Jeremiah Clough, who was 
later well known in Revolutionary 
hislor3', was here furnished with 
scouts, who roamed the wooded acres 
of Nortlifield long before a settler 
dared, choose a home awaj' from un- 
der the shelter of the fort. Many of 
the muster rolls of Captain Clough are 

illoil WniiKin-. Cliih, Ndv. I-. lonn. 



NORTHFIELD. 



still iu existence. In the spring of 
1743 he had twenty men for thirty- 
nine days. March 8 the house of 
representatives voted to pay him 

£l(i, 125., \od. 

The next November he had six, and 
in April and May, 1744, seven men. 
June 2, 1746, the house voted to pay 
him ^'18 for " ye defense of the gov- 
ernment." In anticipation of the In- 
dian War in 1746 the garrison was 
strengthened and he had eleven 
scouts. 

Captain Clough went along the 
Winnipiseogee river as far as the 
"great pond," with a force of nine- 
teen men. He used to furnish the 
bread but their meat was supplied by 
the game in the forests through which 
they passed. It was through and 
through these forests bordering the 
Merrimack and Winnipiseogee rivers, 
on whose banks large numbers of In- 
dians built their wigwams and on 
whose waters they paddled their ca- 
noes, that the scouts passed, and from 
their ranks came the first settlers of 
the " north fields " of Canterbury, at 
the close of the Indian War. 

It is thought that Jonathan Heath 
built his hut on the Merrimack inter- 
vale two years before Benjamin 
Blanchard brought his family to Bay 
Hill iu 1760. He was then forty-one 
years old, and his father was killed 
at the fort, twenty-two years before. 
I"rom this time to 1776 those about 
the fort moved to the north and es- 
tablished homes along the river. 
Among others John Forrest came to 
the Leighton place, near Franklin 
Falls, in 1774. He had nine children. 
His son William cleared a few acres 
near the center of the north fields, 
put it into grain and the next year 
went to Bunker Hill. 



He returned sick and wounded and 
resumed his life-work, farming. He 
planted his corn himself sixty j^ears 
iu succession and was absent but once 
from the annual town-meeting. He 
died at eighty-seven, leaving fourteen 
children and forty-one grandchildren. 
He was a firm Democrat, as were all 
his sons and grandsons. He drew a 
pension for many years. His brother 
James went nearer the river to the 
east. His descendants have through 
the successive generations been cele- 
brated school teachers and prominent 
business men of the town. This is 
the only one of the twelve families of 
Forrests whose descendants still re- 
main in town, while of the twelve 
families of Rogers not one is left. 

Mr. Shubeal Dearborn purchased 
his farm, according to the deed, in 
1779. He was married in homespun 
at twenty-six, and began housekeep- 
ing without a bed or crockery, in a 
house with but one pane of glass. 
Frugality and industry in time made 
him the possessor of a good hou,se, 
well furnLshed, and the fine farm un- 
til lately in the possession of his 
great-grandson, the late John S. 
Dearborn. He was obliged to haul 
his building material from Ports- 
mouth with an ox team. It is said a 
cradle, for the numerous children who 
came to gladden the home, was hol- 
lowed out of a log, and had done 
duty as a sap trough, before the 
rockers were attached to it. 

There have been twenty-four fami- 
lies of Dearborns in town, and it 
seems to have been a family of phy- 
sicians, as twelve have taken medical 
degrees, and several of them have 
been noted practitioners. 

Twenty-six physicians claim North- 
field as their birthplace, and fourteen 



NORTHFIELD. 



others have practised here for longer or 
shorter periods. Dr. Nancy Oihnau 
was the first woman in the state to 
study aud practice medicine. Dr. 
Richard S. Moloney, after leaving 
Northfield, succeeded Hon. John 
Wentvvortii as the U. S. Senator Irom 
Illinois at the age of thirty-nine. He 
died in Nebraska in 189 1. 

The following named persons from 
the "north fields" Served in the 
Revolutionary War and were at Bun- 
ker Hill : 

Lieut. J no. (Oilman, ist Lieut. Cliarle.s 
Glidden, Sluibcal Dearborn, Nathaniel Dear- 
born, George Hancock, Jos. Hancock, Jolm 
Cross. Reuben Kczar, Nathaniel Perkins, 
Jr., 1 Josepli c;iines, Abner Miles, Jonathan 
VVadleigh, John Dearborn. David Kenison. 
Richard Bianchard, William Hancock, Par- 
ker Cross, ' Nathaniel Perkins, William 
Rines. William Forrest. 

The following persons served else- 
where in the Revolutionarj' War : 

Lieut. Thomas Lyford, ^ Phineas Fletcher, 
Jonathan Leavitt, Benjamin Collins, Benja- 
min Glines, Thomas Cross, Isaiah Willey, 
Robert Perkins. David Morgan, ' Benjamin 
Drew, Wadleigli Leavit, FIdward Dyer, John 
Rovven, Robert p'oss, John Willey, Mathew 
Haines, William Glines, Moses Cro.ss. 

The following persons who had 

served in tlie Revolutionary War had 

their residence later in the town (in 

1854): 

Capt. James .Shephard, Ensign Abraham 
lirown, Ord. Sergt. Samuel T. Gilman, 
Mathew N. Sanborn, Samuel Haines, Mor- 
rill .Shephard. John .Shephard, Samuel Dal- 
ton, Josepli .Mann, Surgeon George Kezer. 
Levi Morrill. David Clough. Perkins Pike. 
Jonathan (nlman. Jonathan Avers. FIdward 
Fifield. Jotham Sawyer. John Rollins, John 
Sutton. Klias Abbott. Abner Flanders. Sam- 
uel Dinsmore, John Dinsmore, Isaac Rich- 
ardson, Jacob Richardson, Joseph lOllison. 
Caleb Aldrich. Jonathan Wadleigh. .Moses 
D.inforlh, Henry Dniiforth. Jedediah Dan- 

* Died at n\ink<rr HMl. 

* Died at Voiktown. 

* Died inarniy camp. 



forth, .Stephen Haines. .Samuel Goodwin, 
Jesse Carr, Joseph Clisby. Samuel Rogers. 
Jainis Ahichmore, William Danford. Sam- 
uel Rogers. Robert Forrest, Henry Tibbets. 

This list comprises one captain, 
three lieutenants, one adjutant, three 
orderly, and several other ser- 
geants. 

John Dinsmore was one of General 
Washington's bodyguard. He drew 
S96 a year pension. He died in 
1846, aged niuet5'-four. He was a 
fierce Democrat and became so en- 
raged at his brother for once selling 
his vote for a new pair of pantaloons 
that he had nothing to do with him 
thereafter. 

Elias Abbott was in Bedel's Regi- 
ment, Captain Osgood's Company, 
list of Rangers sent to Canada to 
fight Indians in 1776, and was placed 
on the pension roll, Dec. 15, 1830. 
He drew $96 a year. 

Moses Cross was with Capt. James 
Shephard, Continental Line, Northern 
Army, and drew a pension from July 
21, 1836. 

Joseph Clisby drew $70 a year. 
John Dinsmore first drew $70, theu 
$96, from June 16, 1819. Samuel 
Dinsmore drew $96 a year. 

Samuel Goodwin was with Colonel 
Wingate, Captaiu Calef, and later 
Captain Sailer, in the artilleiy at 
Fort Washington ; later with Capt. 
David Place at Seavey's Island, Nov. 
5, as matross man. He was later 
with Colonel Wingate and Capt. 
James Arnold at Ticonderoga. 

Caleb Aldrich, under Colonel Reed, 
Captain Hinds, went to New' York. 
He was pensioned Dec. 6, 1832, at 
$80 per year. 

Lieut. Charles Glidden was in the 
French and Indi.in War, and was at 
the taking <il Quebec by General 



NORTHFIl-.I.n. 



Wolfe in 1759, and at the taking of 
Montreal by General Amherst in 
1760, and afterward an officer in the 
Revolutionary War. His commission 
was signed by General Washington, 
and is still preserved by his descend- 
ants. He was later a prominent citi- 
zen of Northfield and was the dele- 
gate of the town to the convention at 
Exeter when the Federal Constitution 
was adopted in 178S. His neighbor, 
the grandfather of Wesley Knowles 
(?) was taken prisoner at the surren- 
der of Fort William Henry, and still 
another neighbor was in Stark's Com- 
pany of Rangers. 

William and Francis Kenniston 
were in Capt. John Moore's Company 
of Rangers from April 24 to July 16, 

1756. 

Captain Pevey also took a company 
to join the Rangers, among whom we 
find the names of Edward Presby, 
Nathaniel Keniston, and Benjamin 
Rogers. They were to serve from 
May I to Nov. 26, 1756. These were 
sent to reiinforce General Stark who 
was with the Rogers Rangers. 

The following soldiers of the War 
of 181 2 were under Colonel Steele in 
Capt. Ed. Fuller's Company, and 
were mustered in Sept. 28, 18 14, for 
sixty days : 

Benj. Rollins, John Marden, Samuel Carr, 
Jr., Benjamin Morrill, Kphraim Cross, Mil- 
ton Giles. James Olis, and David Keniston, 
]•■■ 

The latter was always called "In- 
fant David," either because he be- 
longed to the Infantr3', or because of 
his immense size and height. 

Jonathan Gile and a friend, whose 
name has been lost, were transferred 
from this company to the Fourth 
United States Regiment, Western Bri- 
gade, ordered to Viucennes and were 



at the Battle of Tippecanoe. He 
was drowned. His friend returned 
with his personal effects and dying 
message. 

Before taking leave of the military 
history of the town I wish to put on 
record the following, though it may 
not be in chronological order : 

The following named men were 
mustered into the ITnited States ser- 
vice from New Hampshire in the 
" War of the Rebellion" under call 
of July 2, 1862, and subsequent calls 
and assigned to the quota of North- 
field, or went prior to the date given, 
or were natives of Northfield who en- 
listed elsewhere ; 

First Regiment — Abe Libby. 

Second Regiment — Edmund Sanders. 

Third Regiment — Peter Hilton, James 
Lynch. 

Fourth Regiment — lienjamin Hannaford, 
Israel Hall, Richard Dearborn, James Til- 
ton, Winthrop Presby, James Danforth, 
Aaron Veasey, Curtis Whittier, William 
Parsons, Abram Dearborn, John Collins, 
Corp. Charles Cofran, George W. Clark, 
'Phomas Benton Clark. 

Sixth Regiment — James Martin, Thomas 
King. John Johnson, Charles Marsh, Josiah 
Robbins, Charles Dinsmore, Joseph Dins- 
more. 

Seventh Regiment — Frank Edson. 

Eighth Regiment — Gideon Coty, Corp. 
Charles .Arlin, George Whitcher. 

Ninth Regiment — Thomas Austin, Wal- 
lace Chase, Lucien Chase, Thomas Gile, Jr., 
\'an Peabody, Walter F. Glines. Alonzo 
Hovt, Charles H. Davis, Charles W. Tilton, 
William H. Roberts, Joseph Bennet. 

Eleventh Regiment — John W. Downes. 

Twelfth Regiment — Calvin W. Beck, 
John Dalton, Asa Witham, Ira Whitcher, 
(-Jeorge Niles, Frank Braley, Cornelius 
Braley, James Farley, John Keniston, George 
Roberts, Charles Woodward, Benjamin 
Clark. ISyron K. Morrison, Bill Harriot, 
Fred Keniston. Hiram Hodgdon, sutler. 

Fifteenth Regiment — Jeremiah Hall, M. 
D. surgeon. Albert McDaniel, Thomas G. 
Ames. 

Sixteenth Regiment — Jirvin IJiird, Rutus-7^tw>n 
H. Tilton, John W. Pipfr. //L^^'i^ >f- Q^'-C 

Eighteenth Regiment — Albert Brown, , 
.\rtlnn- .Merrill, John W. \\^<t\\(^.M ^};^t'6J^ 



^y 



NORTHFIELD. 



Veterans' Relief Corps — Samuel C. Fi- 
field. 

First Cavalry — Charles Smart, William 
Craigue, Asa Dart, Lucien Knovvles, George 
Stark, Peter Casey, George Keves, James 
Be Gold, John Morrow, George Smith, 

Heavy Artillery — Hiram H. Cross, Albert 
McDaniel, Albert Titcomb, Joseph Mills Si- 
monds, John Dinsmore. 

United States Navy — Stephen Kenney, 
Clarence H. Abbott. 

Marines — John Lyons. John Ktllcy. 
Joseuh Sweenev, Joseph Perrv, James Mc- 
Vay." 

First Massachusetts Cavalry — William C. 
Whittier. credited to Tilton. 

First United States Artillery— Abe Libby 
(reenlisted), James Morrison, Charles Stev- 
ens. 

One Hundred and Seventeenth Infantry — 
Capt. William A. Gile, credited to Frank- 
lin. 

Veteran Battalion — Charles .Arlin (reen- 
listed). 

Eighth Illinois Cavalry — George R. 
Clough, credited to Evanston. 111. 

Regular ."Xmiy (under Gen. Joe Hooker) — 
Charles W. Clough, credited to New Bos- 
ton, N. H.. retired for moon blindness. 

Rev. John Chamberlain was sent 
out by Governor Berry to look after 
the sick and wounded New Hamp- 
shire boys, anywhere and everywhere, 
and was pen.sioned by special act of 
Congress. 

So let us be proud that Northfield 
has ever done her duty according to 
her strength in helping to maintain 
one of the grandest governments in 
the world. Go past our cemeteries on 
Memorial Day and you will see the 
fluttering of the little flags that show 
how freely her blood was shed not 
only for the dear old "Stars and 
Stripes," but for the banners our fore- 
fathers bore. 

In June, 1780, Northfield was set 
off from Canterbury and incorporated 
as a pari.sh. Mr. Nathaniel Whitcher 
was the prime mover. The Merri- 
mack and Winnipiseogee rivers formed 
its entire western and northern boun- 
daries. It contained 17,000 acres and 



was in Rockingham count}' until 
1823. 

A portion of Northfield was com- 
bined with other territory, to form the 
town of Franklin, Dec. 24, 1828. But 
the same territory was re- annexed to 
Northfield, July 3, 1830, and again re- 
stored to Franklin, June 26, 1858. A 
part of two farms were severed and 
annexed to Franklin, June 27, 1861. 

The first meeting the town held 
Nov. 21, 1780, was at the house of 
John vSimonds. The first tax was 
sixty bushels of corn. 

Six thousand dollars was voted for 
highways, allowing fortj^ dollars for a 
day's work. This item is presumably 
a mistake, unless we may learn from 
it the value of continental money at 
that time. 

The third tovi'n-meeting held May, 
1787, must have been a very impor- 
tant one. The record shows three 
items of business : 

\'oted after choosing the modera- 
tor — 

1st. To take the Buzzil family into 
the cear of the town. 

2nd. To drink two bowls at the 
town caust. 

3d. \'oted in addition to the above 
vote To drink six more on the town 
caust. 

Loudon was also a part of Canter- 
bury, set off in 1773. So, whenever 
we .speak of dear old Mother North- 
field let us not forget to think kindly 
of Aunt Loudon and Grandmother 
Canterbury. 

As I have before said the first sel- 
lers were from Canterbury fort. Na- 
thaniel Whitcher soon came from 
Lee and purchased 500 acres of wild 
land and established his four .sons 
near and around Chestnut pond. Mr. 
Wesley Knowles's grandfather bought 



NORTHFIELD. 



his farm of Mr. Whitcher, it is said, 
for a two-year-old heifer. 

Mr. Jonathan Clough came from 
Salisbur}', Mass., with four children, 
in midwinter on an ox sled, with all 
their worldly possessions. The two 
sons took opposite farms on Bay Hill, 
which are still held in the famih'. 

Jonathan Wadleigh, a Revolution- 
ary soldier, came from Kingston to 
Beau Hill, moving later to the farm 
next below the reservoir. His son, 
Peter Wadleigh, one of the leading 
men of the town, was a judge of the 
court of sessions when Merrimack 
county was organized in 1823. 

Four Hill brothers came from Salis- 
bury, Mass., and bought farms on 
and near Bay Hill. They were coop- 
ers and were attracted by the oak 
timber. The Cofrans came from 
Pembroke, the Winslows from Lou- 
don, and the Browns from Notting- 
ham. 

A large family of Giles came from 
Exeter and purchased a large tract of 
land, some 414 acres, southwest of 
the centre of the town, where the fam- 
ily removed. 

The Gerrishes came from Bristol, 
England, to Newbury, Mass., then to 
Boston, and Henry was one of the 
first settlers of Boscawen. 

The Gliddens from Maine, and the 
Smiths from Old Hampton. 

Henry Tibbetts came from the 
Shakers, where he had brought his 
family a short time before. His son, 
Bradbury, tiring of Shaker life ran 
away and took a farm in East North- 
field, where his father and family 
came a little later. Here they both 
lived and died. The father had been 
a soldier in the Revolutionary War. 
He had a fellow soldier named Sin- 
clair, with whom he was intimate as 



they fought side by side. The latter had 
left a young wife in his distant home 
and when he fell, mortally wounded, 
made his friend promise if he lived to 
return to carry the news of his death 
himself to her. He complied faith- 
fully with the wish of his friend and 
in due time wooed and won her for 
his bride. There were born to them 
two daughters and seven sons, three 
of whom, Hiram, Nathan, and 
Charless were physicians, and spent 
most of their lives in Louisiana. 
Charles was a surgeon in the army 
during the Civil War. 

Capt. Isaac Glines was born , iu 
CanterburJ^ His mother was a 
daughter of the first settler, Blanch- 
ard. He learned the carpenter's 
trade at Salem, Mass,, and used to 
take men and materials and return 
home summers and erect first-class 
houses. He w^as captain of the 
" Home Guards " at Salem, and after 
his return to live at Northfield was 
captain in the State Militia. 

Robert Gray and ' ' Squire ' ' John 
Moloney first came to Northfield as 
his help. The latter became sheriff 
and did an extensive business in the 
surrounding counties. After his 
death his numerous family moved 
West. Some are now living in Chi- 
cago. 

Thomas Chase came from Concord 
to the Cross settlement. He was by 
trade a baker, but his father-iu-law 
on his marriage bestowed many broad 
and fruitful acres on his bride as her 
marriage portion. He abandoned his 
chosen calling and became a thrifty 
farmer, adding from time to time, to 
his extensive farm until he became 
possessed of some five or six hundred 
acres. 

Dr. Alexander Thompson Clark 



NORTHFIELD. 



came from Londonderrj' and read 
medicine with Dr. Lerned of Hopkin- 
ton. 

In 1802 he came to Northfield after 
one or two 3'ears' practice in Canada. 
He was Fellow of New/ Hamp- 
shire Medical Society and died sud- 
denly' in 1S21, leaving six children. 

Stephen Chace came to Northfield 
in 1775 and built the first fulling mill 
in the parts where the Granite mill 
now stands. He lived in the house 
still standing at the entrance of Bay 
street, where he kept tavern. He 
owned all the land east and south of 
his mill for a considerable distance. 
He surrendered his business to his 
son, Benjamin, who put in a carding 
machine and continued it until sold 
to Jeremiah Tilton, who paid S400 for 
the mill and four acres of land iu 
1S20. He lived in a tenement over 
the mill until his new brick liouse 
near by was built. He was twice 
burned out and each time enlarged 
his plant, doing a prosperous business 
until his death in 1863. 

Oak Hill was for many years called 
Foss Hill. Two brothers of the name 
owned all the land between the Pond 
Brook (now Phillips Brook) and the 
Canterbury line. There was a large 
family of Keuistons, one of Kenisons, 
and one of Kennersons, no relation- 
ship being claimed. 

The following is copied from an 
ancient book called " Miscellaneous 
Documents and Records relating to 
New Hampshire at different periods : " 

Northfield Apr. tlie nth ye : : 1786 
Tlii.s is to sartify a greeable to an .Act 
Past the 3: ye: : 1786 a trew a Count of 
all the Males pcles is 75 and tlie number of 
women and childrA is 274. 

William Perkins, ") ^. , 
75 William Forrest. < ^«'«ct- 

274 Thomas Cross. 



I would like, if time permitted, to 
speak of many more of the noble men 
and women who came from time to 
time to make Northfield their home ; 
who erected its churches, founded its 
schools, and gave theirtime and ener- 
gies to the various industries of its 
every-day life ; but I am now obliged 
to take leave of legitimate history, 
and without regard to chronology 
take an incident here and there, and 
acting the part of the oldest inhabi- 
tant bring to you in hurried detail a 
few disconnected stories, showing the 
ambitions and doings of the past. 

There seems to have been some- 
thing akin to rivalry even in those 
good old times. When Mr. Gilinan 
built his barn, the first one in town, 
his next door neighbor built one 
twenty-five feet longer. 

" Squire " Glidden, seeing no rea- 
son why he should not have as big a 
barn as any one, built one the next 
year longer by twenty-five feet and 
larger. Dr. Clark built a fine huo- 
story house, and Squire Moloney built 
a finer one, close by, //;/(■(• stories 
high. The great September gale un- 
roofed this house and when it was re- 
paired one story was taken off. 

Squire Moloney and Squire Glid- 
den were always candidates for politi- 
cal honors, and were buying votes the 
whole year round. Some of Molo- 
ney's purchased votes went one year 
to elect Mr. Glidden, so the former 
charged the latter, for a whole barrel 
of rum, as the price of the votes he 
had stolen. 



Ezekial Moore used to carry the 
mail on horseback from Concord, 
through Canterbury, over Bay Hill, 
as far as Gilmanton Corner. So you 



lO 



NORTHFIELD. 



see "Rural Delivery" is no new 
thing. He began in 1798, and gave 
his business to his neighbor, Tallant, 
in 1812 — fourteen j^ears. 



The first manufacturing within the 
limits of the town was by four Cross 
brothers on a brook bearing their 
name, now called Phillips Brook, en- 
tering the Merrimack opposite the 
Webster place, where the Pluuimer 
brothers now reside. Here, close to 
Oak Hill, they established a grocery 
store, tailor's shop, carding machine, 
and fulling mill, sawmill, cooper's 
shop, grist-mill, and a jewelry manu- 
facturing shop, making a specialty of 
gold beads. Other business gathered 
around then, such as shoeing shops 
for man and beast, and a shop where 
earthern and wooden ware was made. 
Their freighting was all done by 
boats on the Merrimack, and a ferry 
connected them with Boscawen. 

Some of this business went later to 
the Centre, after the building of the 
Old Meeting House. Of the four 
sawmills, three tanneries, and four 
cooper's shops, once doing good 
busine.ss in town, not one remains. 



The earliest schools were often kept 
in private houses. The first houses 
were all of the same general style, 
made of logs, with a rock chimney at 
one end, where, in winter, a roaring 
fire was kept, with unseasoned, un- 
cleft wood. There were two holes on 
either side of the walls, each furnished 
with a single pane of glass. There 
was one on Bay Hill, one at the Cen- 
tre, and Hodgdon, and perhaps one 
at Oak Hill, and only male teachers 
were employed. 



Master Gleason at the Centre, had 
from sixty to eighty pupils. He 
boarded round and John Forrest was 
charged with the duty of carrying 
him a bottle of cider each day. Once 
by mistake or purpo.sely the bottle 
was filled from the vinegar barrel. At 
the usual time, after the wear and 
tear of the morning hours, the master 
repaired to the closet, where the cider 
was wont to be kept, and dispensed 
with a good stout drink before he dis- 
covered his mistake. Speechless with 
rage and vinegar he could only shake 
his fist in the face of the boy, at the 
same time giving such power of ex- 
pression to his face as would have 
been highly applauded on the stage. 
John was promised a good flogging 
and the master wore a sour look the 
rest of the day. 

Dudley Leavitt, the astronomer and 
almanac maker, used to teach at the 
Hodgdon, and board with his sister 
on Bean Hill, always going on foot. 
Masters Thorn, Bowles, and Sutton 
were the most ancient teachers, most 
of whom excelled in arithmetic. It 
is said that Master Thorn, being cor- 
nered by Moses Batchelder on a sum, 
went to Master Abrara Simonds, one 
of the best learned men of the town, 
who refused to assist him, but that he 
sat down with Benjamin Winslow, 
who could not cipher but who did it 
in his head, while the teacher wrote 
it down in figures. 

Sally Thornton was the first female 
teacher. She used also to preach. 



It was a long established custom for 
the big boys to sell the ashes and buy 
rum for the last day of school. Good 
Mother Winslow being present, once, 
when forestick, backlog, and all came 



NORTHFIELD. 



rolling out on the hearth and uearl)' 
suffocated them all before they could 
be righted, spoke right out, and said, 
" It were better to sell the ashes for 
shovel and tongs than to buj' rum for 
the scholars." She was silenced at 
once by a voter present, who said, 
" Let 'um have their rum — let 'um 
have it. It '11 do them as much good 
as salt does sheep once in awhile." 
And so the ashes did not go for shovel 
and tongs. 



I should not wish to say that North- 
field people were worse than others in 
using spirituous liquor, but the first 
traders all kept it, and Saturday 
nights, men, boys, and all were in the 
habit of going with their jugs for a 
large or small quantity of it. No 
public gathering was in order without 
it. Mr. Jeremiah Kimball, who 
traded at the Centre many years, 
used to say, " He had sold rum 
enough there to fill the whole valley, 
so that a vessel could float above the 
treetops, straight from Sanbornton 
Bridge to the Canterbury' line." 

Let it be said to the credit of the 
good people, however, that right there 
the temperance reform began in this 
wise. There was to be a quarterly 
meeting at the Old Meeting House, 
and Squire Sainuel Forrest, who often 
went with his team to Portsmouth for 
supplies for the merchants and others, 
was charged with the duty of deliver- 
ing a barrel of New England rum in 
season for the anticipated gathering. 
No reason was given for the delay, 
but the good cheer did not arrive un- 
til time for the afternoon service. The 
meeting was postponed, and the bar- 
rel tapped without being unloaded 
from the wagon, and all drank their 



fill. Elder Mahew Clark was to 
preach the afternoon sermon. As he 
ascended the long stains to the little 
pulpit beneath the sounding board, 
he looked down on the elders and peo- 
ple half asleep from the effects of their 
libations. 

He took for his text, " Woe to 
drunkards of Ephraim." Nothing like 
that sermon was ever heard before, 
either in manner, matter, or effect. 

Rum began at once to be excluded 
from religious gatherings, funerals, 
and weddings, and Mr. Forrest is 
said then to have declared that he 
would never haul another drop of rum 
from Portsmouth or elsewhere. Rev. 
Liba Conant, who long preached 
there used to relate that he once at- 
tended an ordination at Loudon, 
where liquor was furnished and a fife 
and drum were used to call the people 
to the afternoon ser\-ice. 



Mr. Moses Winslowsays that wdiile 
the town was hesitating over the 
building and location of the Old 
Meeting House, Mr. Peter Wadleigh 
and others began one on the plain, 
just above Kendegeda brook, but it 
was burned, perhaps purposely. 
There is no record of it. 

The Old Meeting House was built 
by the town and money appropriated 
for some years to pay for preaching, 
and a committee chosen to see to the 
supply at each annual town-meeting. 



The first bridge over the Winuipis- 
eogee river was a few rods east of the 
present structure, by the Firth mill, 
and was made of birch logs in 1763. 
The town voted $300 "old tenner," 
to help build it, and it was used for 



12 



NORTHFIELD. 



horses as well as pedestrians. It was 
over this bridge that Mr. Runnels 
says the Barleys passed on their way 
to their new home in Sanbornton. 
Let us imagine we are in sight. First 
conies Mrs. Burley on horseback, 
with the two youngest children in her 
arms. Behind her was a bag contain- 
ing a bushel and a half of meal. In 
a bed tick, thrown over the hor.se, 
was the barnyard poultry. There 
were holes cut in the lower portions, 
on either side, for breathing places 
for the birds, out of which their heads 
protruded. Mr. Burley followed on 
foot, with the two older boys and two 
cows. 

A better bridge was built with the 
assistance of Canterbury, in 17S4, 
which was carried away by an ice 
freshet in 1S24. Another took its 
' place at once. This one fell in 1839, 
with a six-horse stage full of passen- 
gers on it. None of them lost their 
lives, but several were thrown into 
the water and otherwise injured, and 
later recovered damages of the town. 
But one of the horses was rescued. 

There was also a bridge over the 
river, close by the Holmes, now the 
" Tilton mills,'" built by subscription. 
Squire Nathaniel Holmes was the 
prime mover. Mr. John Dearborn, 
father of Joseph P., furnished the 
lumber and much of the labor. Mr. 
Holmes wished to use a house stand- 
ing over the river as a boarding 
house. He purchased the Philip 
Clough farm of which this house was 
the center, embracing the land where 
the first seminary stood, and as far 
south as the fairgrounds. To improve 
its value, he laid out a three-rod road, 
across the farm to the Colony road, 
buying a strip of land of Mr. Cate. 
This road, past Mr. Holmes's house. 



by the mill, over the bridge, and as 
far south as the Colony road, was on 
his own land and was never a high- 
way until Park street was laid out, in 
1857, and extended across the plain 
to the Kendegeda bridge. 

An old sawmill stood at the east 
end of this bridge, which was built in 
old Colonial times, no one knows 
when. It was purchased by the rail- 
road and in course of time demolished. 
The bridge, too, was not a very sub- 
stantial structure. One end fell into 
the river, and the other was pulled 
down. 

The route of the Boston, Concord 
& Montreal railroad, as first surveyed, 
in 1844, after crossing the brook on 
the plains, bore to the east, crossing 
the fields back of Jason Foss's build- 
ings and B. F. Cofran's, along the 
side of the hill to a point a little above 
the "Granite Mills," where the de- 
pots were to be located. The village 
people were not thus to be left out, 
and raised such a clamor that the 
present course was granted, thus add- 
ing two long cuts and two bridges to 
the cost of construction. 

The road was opened to vSanborn- 
ton Bridge, May 22, 1848, with great 
rejoicing. All day the citizens of 
Northfield and Sanbornton Bridge 
were transported to Concord and back 
free of charge. 



Mr. Hunt, in his Centennial ad- 
dress, tells of a Mrs. Colby who 
used to warp her webs on the apple 
trees ; also of the many women and 
children who used to braid hats and 
pick berries, sometimes for the entire 
support of large families, but Mrs. 
John Simouds without doubt excelled 



NORTHFIELD. 



them all. Her sou, Thomas, used to 
tell of a fine suit of clothes she wove 
and made for him, using only bear's 
hair and thistledown, and that they 
passed for broadcloth when he wore 
them up to Danville Green to muster. 



It was quite the custom for the fe- 
male teachers, even if they had fiftj' 
or sixty scholars and boarded round, 
to spin and weave a web of cloth each 
term in some friendly home in the 
neighborhood. 



Mr. Dockham, who had charge of 
erecting the first seminary building, 
told me that it was begun without an}' 
plans or estimates. They were to 
erect a house sevent}' feet long, forty 
wide, and two stories in height. 

Those of you who remember the 
location of the " United Panoplian " 
reading-room, and the primary school- 
room will not wonder at their unsuit- 
able location. Warren Hill made the 
bricks for it from the clay bank, back 
of the Granite mills. Colonel Cofrau 
burned them, and Isaac Bod well laid 
the walls. 



'In December, 1835, Rev. Geo. Storrs 
attempted to deliver an antislavery lecture in 
the Methodist church, now the town house, 
but was dragged from his knees while in 
prayer, preliminary to his address, by a dep- 
uty sheriff on a warrant charging him with 
being an idle and disorderly person, going 
about the town and county disturbing the 
public peace. 

His trial took place the next day 
and he was acquitted. 

Northfield cannot boast of any man 
of extraordinary fame. We have 
turnished no president, no governor, 
no Hobson or Detvey, but among the 



residents of the olden time was a pre- 
eminently' lazy man and a wonderful 
storj' teller. The former, William 
Glines, was generally known by the 
attractive name of "Old Cartnap," 
as were his descendants to the latest 
generation. The old fellow had met 
with the men of the neighborhood to 
work out the highway tax. He was 
slow and in everybody's way, and 
gladly accepted their suggestion to 
get under a cart by the roadside, and 
sleep while they worked out his tax. 
Just how much he slept is not told, 
as he was jjelted from time to time 
with clods and dirt by the fun-loving 
men and boys. His mother was a 
Cartwrigbt, a noble family in Boston, 
and thus had a right (wright) to the 
Cart. His wife, Hannah Hancock, 
was a niece of John Hancock, who 
signed the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. Let it be said also that his 
seeming indolence may have been 
caused by the hardships of his youth- 
ful ser\'ice ^u the Revolutionary War 
in which he suffered the privations of 
prison life. Two of his sons, who 
went to the West, became prosperous 
and wealthy men, the one at Findlay, 
and the other at Marietta, Ohio. 

The story teller, Grandsire Hall, 
iised to sit on winter evenings, in the 
chimney corner, and tell of the won- 
derful things that used to happen 
when he was a boy. He used to tell 
of a snow storm that came the last day 
of April. At first, it was only an 
inch of show and an inch of hail on 
top of it. Then for years, it was a 
foot of snow and a foot of hail on 
top of it, and as time passed on it 
became a rod of snow and a rod on 
top of it. 



' Greeley's " History of llic Orent ReheUioii 



Mr. Simonds, familiarly called 



14 



NOR TH FIELD. 



" Uncle Tom," was very weather- 
wise, and used to go about the 
neighborhood announcing a storm 
coming, as his eye, that wasn't 
there, had pained him all night, and 
the almanac said the moon was 
" apodging." 



But the quaintest of all quaint peo- 
ple was the family of Sergeant Blanch- 
ard. His two dwarf sons, stubbing 
about town, wearing stovepipe hats 
given them by the fun-loving boys, 
were, like " Falstaff's recruits," in- 
tensely comical. Nature had played 
havoc with them physically, with 
such wonderful uniformity, that half 
the well matched yokes of oxen in 
town, for years, were named for tliem, 
"Billy and Jerry." The father had 
been in the army and was every inch 
a soldier. 

It is said that at his wife's funeral, 
dazed by his grief, perhaps, and 
having in mind the long jDrocession 
as it followed him over the snow, 
thought he was conducting a dress 
parade, and called out " Halt ! " He 
then proceeded to tell them that 
' ' forty year ago I shot a ' beer ' on 
this very spot." Then calling out 
" forward march," they proceeded. 
A few months later his daughter 
went in haste to a neighbor's and 
said, " Dad's mighty bad off! Aint 
gwiue ter live long, want to get 
something good to read to him. 
Wont yer lend me yer last year's 
almanack 1 " 

Warren H. Smith was for many 
years preeminently the business man 
of the town. He began building rail- 
roads in 1S47, more than a half cen- 
tury ago, when thirty years of age, 
having previously for some years 



farmed extensively in summer and en- 
gaged winters in lumbering. His 
first contract commenced two miles 
below Sanbornton Bridge and ex- 
tended to Warren, sixty- four miles. 
Later from Warren to Wells River, 
twenty-two miles. Then, in 1848, he 
built five miles on the Manchester & 
Lawrence, also from Wells River to 
St. Johnsbury in 1850. He then 
went to Connecticut in 1S53, for a 
contract on the Fishkill & Provi- 
dence, and thence to Tennessee. He 
built eleven miles on the Suncook 
and fifteen on the Sugar River road, 
twenty- five miles from Cohasset to 
Duxburv, thirty-eight on the Mont- 
pelier and Wells River, and nine and 
a half on the Franconia Notch. 
Nearly all these contracts included 
grading, track laying, masonry, and 
bridging, and required a large force 
of laborers. 



Joseph Gerrish was for many years 
the leading farmer of the town. His 
farm consisted of many acres of both 
intervale and upland. He erected 
spacious barns and a large and com- 
modious house. He possessed good 
horses, ample means, and a family of 
thirteen children. He lived gener- 
ously and was looked up to and re- 
spected as one of the most substantial 
farmers in the town. Hediedin 1851, 
leaving three highly cultivated and 
fruitful farms to his sons, none of 
whom no.v live, and scarcely an acre 
of land still remains in the family 
name. Mr. Gerrish, in the early 
part of the Revolutionarj' War, 
erected a still and manufactured 
whiskey from potatoes of his own 
raising, but abandoned the business 
after peace was restored. 



NORTHFIELD. 



15 



1 Hon. Asa P. Cate was perhaps the most 
eminent pubhc man of the town where he 
spent the whole of his useful life. He was a 
lawyer of note, a judge of Probate for Merri- 
mack county, a senator and president of the 
senate, a liberal friend of the New Hamp- 
shire Conference seminary, superintendent 
of school for many years, county solicitor, 
railroad commissioner, his party's candidate 
for governor, and the founder of tlie Citi- 
zens' National Bank. 

He had also the following military 
record : He was lieutenant of the 
Second Company of Light Infantr)' in 
the Thirty-eighth Regiment in 1833, 
promoted to captain the year follow- 
ing, major in 1837, lieutenant-colonel 
the next year, and colonel in 1839. 



I cannot close without paying due 
tribute to the natural beauty and at- 
tractiveness of this my native town, 
to the dear ones long since passed on 
before, who watched over my child- 
hood and the earnest teachers who 
guided my wayward feet along the 
often rugged path of knowledge, to 
the man of God who so earnestly set 
before us the things that make for 
peace and right living, to the noble 

iGeorjjc H. Moses in Granite Monthly. 



institution which was once the joy 
and pride of us all, where noble and 
wise men and women showed us the 
ctirious things of nature, art, and sci- 
ence, which have made so many of 
our lives rich in thought, feeling, 
knowledge, and reminiscence. 

Coming back after some years' 
sojourn upon the prairies of the West 
I appreciate more than ever the 
charming variety of hill and dale and 
noble forest. How forcibly does my 
heart respond to the sentiment ex- 
pressed by the poet Goldsmith, in his 
"Deserted Village," a sentiment as- 
sented to by so many, who, in distant 
homes, long ever for the dear scenes 
of childhood : 

" In all my wanderings round this world of 

care, 
In all my griefs — and God has given my 

share^ — 
I still had hopes my latest hours to crown, 
Amidst these humble bowers to lay me 

down. 
To husband out life's taper at the close, 
And keep the flame from wasting by repose, 
And. as an hare, whom hounds and horns 

pursue 
Pants to the place from whence at first she 

flew, 
I still had hopes my long vexations past 
Safe to return — and die at home at last. 



Note— Authorities drawn upon: Runnell's "History of Sanbornton ; " Potters "Military 
History of New Hampshire;" " Adjutant General's Records;" Professor Hunt's "Centennial 
Address ; " " Papers of the Late Judge Nesraith ; " Mrs. Mary A. Jones ; Mrs. William Clough ; 
Mrs. Jason Foss ; Mrs. F. S. Spencer, and others. 



'^ 



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